Thoughts Flow

Here are just a few more thoughts that I thought you might find of interest.

• MORE ON THE AMBULANCE MATTER
  
  I just find the coincidences amazing. A month before the brouhahas over the fire truck and the ambulance at the Windsor Tunnel, Eddie Francis said the following:
  
  "Passport rules may risk lives, mayor warns;
  Trevor Wilhelm Windsor Star, 10-17-2007
  
  Concerns are mounting in border towns like Windsor that U.S. rules requiring passports to cross the border as early as next summer could leave paramedics, firefighters, doctors and nurses wasting time when lives are on the line.
  
  Mayor Eddie Francis said the city has lobbied U.S. decision-makers and worked with concerned parties on both sides of the border to ensure emergency workers won't get held up by passport regulations as they attempt to speed through the border during emergencies.
  
  There are thousands of Windsor-area nurses who cross the border every day to work in Detroit-area hospitals, said Francis.
  
  "In the event there is another 9-11, you need those nurses to get to the hospitals to provide emergency response."
  
  "If nurses in Windsor are part of a transplant team, and they get paged for a transplant, they can't afford to be caught up at the border."
  
  Many border towns have mutual aid agreements with their U.S. neighbours that ensure co-operation at the border when personnel are crossing in emergencies. Mayors and emergency responders want to make sure that continues when the new rules take effect.
  
  Larry Amlin, supervisor of special operations and investigations for Windsor Essex EMS, said there's "a gentleman's agreement" that allows the hospital to call ahead and get pre-clearance for paramedics and their patients at the border. He said he doesn't know if that will change next year, and added that EMS will meet Nov. 1 with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to talk about it. "I have no idea how it's going to impact us," said Amlin. "It probably will affect it. It's always a concern. But when push comes to shove, when they need help or when we need help, I think it will be there."

I just can't believe how amazing Eddie's crystal ball is. Almost a month to the day of the emergency vehicles issue breaking, Eddie had virtually predicted something like this might happen. It's almost as if he knew it was going to happen since his comments were so right on point.

A little timeline then might be interesting as well:

Nine other emergency vehicle stoppages in Windsor with no publicity over last two years

Windsor Ambulance stopped Nov 12

Fire truck Nov 13

Ambassador Wilson speech Nov 14

Star ambulance story Nov 16

Stockwell Day expresses "concern" and requests border procedures be reviewed Nov 16

Here's something really humorous in all of this to break some of the tension. I wonder if they sent the letter by regular Canada Post. Lucky that the US had not received anything so that Caandians had the time to get really upset.

• "A spokesperson with Public Safety Canada acknowledged Monday that Day's communication consisted of a letter to Chertoff that was dispatched last week.
  
  But Homeland Security could not confirm that it had received the letter until Monday afternoon."

Make whatever you will out of all this. I am just still amazed at the foresight.

DOES DWIGHT HATE GREENLINK

Did the meeting between Eddie Francis and Dwight Duncan ever take place on November 9? Was it postponed or did it go forward?

I know that Dwight is a busy man now, and important too, since he is Minister of Finance but he is still one of our local MPPs after all. Surely Dwight of all people ought to understand how important the border issue is to the well-being of the Province of Ontario. He wouldn't postpone a meeting now would he.

Let's assume for the sake of argument that he did meet with the Mayor. Do we make the assumption that he had no interest in Greenlink because not a word has come out after that session? I mean, Gord had to write a column about it on Saturday didn't he?

We do know that Dwight said before the election:

• "Windsor's two provincial cabinet ministers, Sandra Pupatello and Dwight Duncan, said they favoured the DRIC plan.
  
  Duncan called it the "most expensive use of roadbed capacity in the history of Ontario.
  
  "We have rejected the low-cost alternatives," he said. "We think we have found some creative solutions. This is not a moat. It's a well-planned out (solution) that will enhance the community.
  
  "In terms of urban landscapes, not only is this better than anything we have in Ontario, this is also on par with anything you will find in the world."

Given Dwight's comments then and his Ministerial position now, the surprising lack of Greenlink promotion recently by the City, the failure to provide to the public a copy of what the City has sent to DRIC, shall we assume that Eddie's latest little extravaganza is dead in the Schwunnel! Or will we get a big surprise with Dwight's support?

WHAT ARE THE ODDS

Legends Sports Bar at Casino Windsor I hear has a new betting pool set up.

Right now I hear the odds are pretty good if you take the bet that the BLOG of Don McArthur of the Windsor Star will suddenly disappear from the Star's website. It happened to Dave Battagello after all.

Take a look at his BLOG directed at the Mayor as an example "What's good for Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis..."
http://communities.canada.com/windsorstar/blogs/lifeontour/default.aspx

To me, it is quite a surprising BLOG since it names the Mayor directly with respect to criticism of policies. What is interesting about it to me is that last Monday's Editorial did not criticize Francis by name at all considering that the Editorial dealt with Eddie's lack of openness and transparency.

• "an impression can be created that officials do not welcome public input and scrutiny. This is good for neither the public nor those dedicated people who have been appointed to serve on various boards."

I'll miss Don because he has a sense of humour. I liked his duck bill joke after all.

OH OH, TROUBLE IS BACK IN TOWN

I saw this notice recently from Dennis DesRosiers:

• "I have agreed to speak again this year to The Greater Windsor Home Builders’ Association Viewpoint 2008 conference on the Housing & Automotive Perspective for Windsor & Essex County. It is scheduled for Wednesday November 28, 2007. I will be updating the City of Windsor on the current state of the auto sector in the area and discussing the implications for auto workers in Windsor of the recently negotiated contracts in the US. Needless to say it is going to be a difficult labour year for Canada. I also plan on a deep dive into the "Windsor Issue" and will provide an outside perspective on some of the problems facing Windsor and their root causes and offering some thoughts as to what I think needs to be done to 'rescue' this region."

You better get your tickets quickly because I'm sure it will be sold out. What will Dennis say this year that will get certain people mad at him again? Who knows, but it will be fun to find out.

I see that former Canadian Ambassador to the United States and New Brunswick Premier, Frank McKenna wrote the following in the Star:

• "This newspaper has quoted experts who acknowledge that the sector’s new competitive advantage must be forged by innovations in design, engineering and manufacturing, along with more sophisticated products and services. I agree. Moving up the manufacturing value chain is essential.
  
  Research and development will play a central role in this transformation. This bodes well for Windsor-Essex. Significant investments are already being made by the private and public sector in this region. The Big Three are traditionally major spenders, which helps explain why Windsor is ranked ninth overall for corporate spending in R&D."

Gee, I wonder if DesRosiers was one of those experts and if he was, why aren't the Mayor and the Gazelle Feeders talking to him now? Oh I forgot. He told ex-Mayor Hurst about this concept first. That makes him an "enemy" too I guess.

MUNICIPAL BRIDGE INFRASTRUCTURE

I asked the question about the construction on E C Row Expressway with work seemingly being done just at certain overpasses. Are there risks with E C Row that we are not being told about? We know that the Expressway has problems since Cansult suggested that in their report sometime ago.

Here is a very troublesome story from the Globe and Mail:

• "Bridge repair falling through cracks, report says
  At least $2-billion of fixes needed over the next five years, suggests new study commissioned by Ontario's construction industry
  JEFF GRAY, Globe and Mail, November 20, 2007
  
  Ontario's municipal bridges need billions in repairs, lack proper oversight and may be putting public safety at risk, says a new report commissioned by the construction industry in the wake of recent high-profile bridge collapses in Minnesota and Quebec...
  
  The province's municipal bridges, many of which were built 30 to 50 years ago, need at least $2-billion in repairs over the next five years, the report estimates. And since 1997, the report says, there has been no single agency keeping tabs on Ontario's 12,000 municipal bridges or even ensuring they are inspected once every two years, as required by provincial law."

According to their report we have 79 bridges in Windsor, 8 culverts. Under "relevant comments" it states

• "5-7 Million per year annually is needed. 2007 budget is 1.5 million. See original document." (I don't know what original document means since it is not explained in the report).

But that's ok....we got an AA rating from Standards & Poors for paying down debt. We can fix the bridges next year.